These Vegan Cauliflower Buffalo Wings will blow your tastebuds away!! Coated in a sweet hot garlic buffalo sauce, they are unbelievably addictive and the perfect game day snack!

WATCH THE VIDEO TO SEE HOW IT’S MADE:

FACT: I am a spice lover. Not a little, I LOVE spice. I put pepper on everything: my avocado toast, in my chickpea curry, even in my new favourite cauliflower soup (uh, PSA: you need to try that. It’s been my most quickly reviewed, 100% positive recipe!!). If it facilitates spice, I’m adding it. I have made sure that none of the recipes here are at my spice level because I know it’s high, all EXCEPT these Vegan Cauliflower Buffalo Wings. I present: a recipe that identifies with me at my core. Spicy, DELICIOUS, loaded with flavour (SO. MUCH. FLAVOUR) and of course, and quite simple to make.

Your friends will ooh, ahh, and look on jealously as you devour these. The smell of the sauce is intoxicating. Share with them, it’s the right thing to do.

So I’ve bantered on as usual; let’s get to the cauliflower buffalo wings. I used the exact same recipe as I did for my sesame wings, except I used finer breadcrumbs. Traditionally, buffalo wings aren’t breaded at all, but I think it’s safe to say these aren’t so traditional ;).

I definitely think the breading is crucial to the cauliflower wings tasting so good, so don’t skip it. After they are baked at a nice high temperature, they take a batch in a sweet hot garlic buffalo sauce.

Good grief. That name alone. I then bake them one last time. Let me tell you – I tasted them right out of the sauce. They were divine. However, after the second bake?! I had to struggle to wait long enough to take pictures before devouring them. They were SO flavourful after that. It’s one of those crucial steps that are so worth it (only 5 more minutes of waiting!)

After posting the same picture on my Instagram stories and Snapchat, many of you were in shock that these were vegan. YES my friends, vegan, gluten free and ready to be eaten. Try them: party snack, evening snack, Netflix night and Super Bowl treat. I kept these as healthy as possible with only one tablespoon of vegan butter so feel free to DIG in without any guilt!

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED

Q: So, are these wings really spicy?

A: YES! Buffalo wings are super hot wings in general. Taste the sauce before soaking your wings in them and adjust them to your heat level if it’s too much. We personally LOVED the heat here.

Q: Do I have to make these vegan cauliflower wings with the (gluten free) breadcrumbs?

A: Yes! The breadcrumbs makes the cauliflower wings crispy before the sauce goes on. Ideally, you should make them with panko breadcrumbs which I’ve linked to below. I’ve made these without the breadcrumbs and it doesn’t work without the breading. IF you can’t find panko gluten free breadcrumbs, regular gluten free breadcrumbs will work, just toast them first.

Q: If I’m not gluten free, can I use regular flour and panko breadcrumbs?

A: Yes!

Q: Do you have a vegan ranch dressing to go along with these?!

A: Yes I finally do! After you guys asked me about this endlessly, I made a Vegan Ranch Dressing for you to serve these with!

Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with a silicone baking sheet or greased foil.

Using a knife, remove florets from the cauliflower (aka cut off the leaves and don't use the stems).

Chop the cauliflower into smaller pieces to resemble the size of wings.

In a separate bowl, whisk the gluten free flour, almond milk, salt, ground black pepper and garlic powder in a bowl to make the batter.

In a separate bowl, place the bread crumbs. Line it up beside the batter bowl.

Toss the cauliflower in the batter mixture one at a time, shaking off excess batter. Do not soak. Then, dip the cauliflower into the breadcrumbs to coat completely, then place onto the baking sheet. Repeat until all of the wings are coated.

While the wings are baking, in a small pot over high heat, mix all the sauce ingredients. Bring to a boil and boil for 2 to 3 minutes, which helps to bring out more flavour notes of the ingredients. Remove from heat. Taste a little bit to decide if you need more sweetener to balance out the heat; if so, add a tablespoon at a time until your desired heat. Please note that especially depending on the hot sauce you use, these wings are HOT so take caution!

Don’t use olive oil to grease the baking sheet since it will burn the bottom of your wings.

The batter will only adhere to the cauliflower wings dry. So, if for any reason you wet your cauliflower, it has to be 100% dry for the batter to stick.

You can use regular or whole wheat flour if not gluten free. Some Gluten Free flours are thicker than others, so if your batter seems way too thick, add in a few tablespoons of milk to thin it out a little if necessary. I use Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose GF (NOT Baking) Flour. I have used Einkorn flour while making these and it is a beautifully smooth consistency and is naturally organic.

HOW TO STORE CAULIFLOWER WINGS
You can store these Cauliflower Wings in airtight tupperware container in your fridge for up to 4 days, and reheat them in an oven until warmed. They taste best fresh. I wouldn’t recommend freezing these as the batter may get soggy.

I love spice too, although I need it in moderation! But, I have a feeling I would devour these cauliflower wings in no time. They look SO pretty, Jessica! And so good too…what a perfect game day snack!

this method is awesome! i have made twice now. 2nd time I also used with canned artichoke hearts..(5-7 count, Reese brand is best & make sure to squeeze all liquid out of each heart before dipping in the batter) I placed the hearts on the pan with the cauliflower half way thru cooking time… WOW! so good thank you for this great recipe, I have finally found my fix for deep fried artichoke hearts. 🙂

This was an AMAZING recipe. Truly the best cauliflower wings recipe I’ve tried so far. I found that cooking the cauliflower florets on the stove on med-low heat for about 10 mins and then squeezing out any remaining water made the cauliflower crispier. The addition of bread crumbs really makes it feel like I’m eating actual wings, as well. I substituted your sauce with something a lot more mild, but I found that a 1/2 cup of sauce, like you have in your recipe, is actually the perfect amount needed to coat one tray of wings without losing the crunch of the coating. This is definitely my #1 go-to recipe whenever I’m in the mood for it. Thank you so much for this recipe!

All, I have a question. These tasted great and I highly recommend them. However, I baked them after battering as directed and the texture was great. Then I put the buffalo sauce on and baked them for 5 minutes more. They were a little soggy- nothing horrible but I noticed. Do you think baking them for more time would have made them soggier or crisped them up a little more? Thansk for your thoughts!

So glad you enjoyed!! Hmm, ah I’m not sure they ended up soggy for you but I’m sorry to hear that!! Next time maybe try them straight out of being dipped in the buffalo sauce and see if you prefer them that way. I hope that helps!!

Thank you for this recipe! I’ve made a few different recipes for cauliflower wings but this one is my favorite. The bread crumbs are a must, they make these crunchy and so delicious. I make vegan ranch from mayo (just google vegan ranch mayo recipe) and it goes amazingly with these 🙂

Recently started to my transition into adapting a vegan lifestyle. When I came across this recipe, it had to be the first vegan dish I made. …1st time was good. 2nd time was better. I already like cauliflower but man the THIRD week in a row I made these, it SMACKED!!! Thank you for this bomb recipe. It has really encouraged me to try new things & look forward to giving vegan recipes a try.
Going to try the tacos in the near future!

God, this is delicious. Turns out there’s not vinegar based hot sauce in German supermarkets so I used spicy barbecue sauce instead. I needed more than the amount in your recipe but it was soooooo delicious. Thank you SO much for saving me from a desolate, cheer- and wingless life (kidding, it’s actually pretty great, but still, spicy wings!!!).